Hughes v. Superior Court

Opinion

POCHÉ, J.

We review an adjudication of contempt for an attorney’s

refusal to obey a trial court’s order to proceed to trial.

Petitioner, a deputy public defender, had been assigned to two cases on the trial calendar of Monday, July 2, 1979—the “Body” case and the “Holloway” case, both of which were complex, involving charges of assault with intent to commit murder. On the preceding Friday, he attempted to obtain an indication from the master calendar department as to the order in which the cases would go to trial, and was told that all else being equal the “older” of the two, i.e. the…